He's not climbing into his DeLorean and
punching in a
destination far into the past, but actor and Parkinson's disease advocate
Michael J. Fox surprised many recently when he told ABC News
reporter Diane
Sawyer that stem cell research may not be the future of treatments or a cure
for this debilitating disease.

Since Fox announced his personal battle with Parkinson's and
subsequently launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
(MJFF) in 2000,
much of the organization's funding and awareness campaigns have
focused on the pursuit of stem cell research to yield therapies or even cures
for
Parkinson's disease.

In particular, during the mid-2000s, when President George
Bush's executive
order restricting federal funding for stem cell research put a
lot of lab work using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) on the shelf, Fox and
the MJFF
were outspoken in their belief in "the scientific freedom to pursue
all promising paths to finding these treatments."

As the controversial Sherley
v. Sebelius case was brought forward to challenge President Barack Obama's
2009
executive order that lifted the Bush restrictions, Fox commented, "As a
person with Parkinson's, it's hugely frustrating to think that one decision
can
actively hold back research that holds promise to transform lives. Patients
with neurodegenerative diseases dream of the day when disease-
modifying
treatments are found, instead of therapies that simply mask symptoms.
Disease-modifying therapies create the possibility of newly diagnosed
patients
never having to experience full-blown disease."

But now, Fox seems to be changing focus, as
he recently told
Sawyer, "Stem cells are an avenue of research that we've pursued and continue
to pursue, but it's part of a broad portfolio of
things that we look at. There
have been some issues with stem cells, some problems along the way."
Historically, hESCs cells have shown promise for
treating Parkinson's in a
Petri dish, but they have not yet been effective once transplanted into a
living organism. In other studies, lab rats
treated with hESCs have developed
tumors or other problems.

Fox's comments, while surprising to some,
are really
suggestive of the current state of stem cell researchówhich, while fascinating
in its possibilities, is still very much an area of research
that is still in
its infancy. Make no mistake, the MJFF is not turning its back on stem cell
research, but simply choosing not to put all of its eggs
into one Petri dish.

Put in film industry terms, it's not so much a rewind on
Parkinson's disease research, but perhaps a reboot. Fox notes
that he hasn't
totally abandoned his hope that stem cell research may yield treatments for
Parkinson's.

"An answer may come from stem cell research, but it's more
than likely to come from another area," he told Sawyer.

For now, the MJFF is focusing its efforts on pairing
patients with clinical trials that are recruiting
in their localities, a
challenge that seems to be significantly inhibiting clinical progress. The
online initiative, which the MJFF is calling the Fox
Trial Finder
(www.foxtrialfinder.org), matches
up patients with research scientists
conducting clinical trials. Currently, about 200 trials are seeking recruits
through the website.

It's Fox's hope that this service will improve clinical
trial recruitment enough to bring the pursuit of
Parkinson's biomarkersó"which
is really important," Fox saysóto the forefront of Parkinson's research
efforts.

In the meantime, you can catch up to speed on the latest
developments in the Sherley case on
page 21, and in our
upcoming July and August issues, we'll take an in-depth
look at two advancing areas of stem cell research: epigenetics and regenerative
medicine.